Blog #1

In To Kill a Mocking Bird's sequel, Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee, 26 year old Jean Louise Finch returns to her hometown of Maycomb, Alabama. When her train arrives at Maycomb Junction, she is greeted by her boyfriend Henry Clinton. At first Henry is described as everything you could hope for in a man, he's educated and compassionate, but Harper Lee shows Henry's true colors through the use of irony. To begin with, take a look at the quote, "He began dating her on her annual two-week visits home, and although she still moved like a thirteen- year old boy and abjured most feminine adornment, he found something so intensely feminine about her that he fell in love....She was afflicted with a relentlessness of spirit he could not guess at, but he knew she was the one for him." This quote makes it clear that Henry adores Jean for who she is and that he values her uniqueness and free nature. However, at the end of the chapter Jean asks Henry how she can be a good girlfriend and he responds, "'First,' he said dispassionately, 'hold your tongue. Don't argue with a man especially when you know you can't beat him. Smile a lot. Make him feel big. Tell him how wonderful he is, and wait on him.'" The small speech as a whole is ironic because if Henry truly valued Jean's uniqueness he wouldn't be attempting to fit her into a cookie cutter mold. I believe Harper Lee does this in order to foreshadow the downfall of Jean and Henry's relationship, and implies that Henry will turn out to be a hypocrite.